Power transmission and storage apparatus



T. F. BARRETT. v POWER TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE APPARATUS.

` APPLICATION FILED AUG.5, I9I9.

1,352,936. .PatentedSept. 14,1920.

, l is allowed i Unirse ster-serment ortica.- y*

THOMAS r. BARRETT, orsoUTi-r roTTsTowN," rnNNsrLvANrA. i

POWER TrtANsi/rrs'sroiv Ann sTonAen ArrAnATUs.

To all whom it may Concern.'

' Be it known that l, THoMAsF. BARnnT'T,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing in South Pottstown, Pennsylvania, have invented Power Transmission and Storage Apparatus, of which the following is a specitication. Y Y

One object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple, compact and reliable device for utilizing the'force available in a moving trainfor the operation of apparatus such as pumps, switches, signals, etc., adjacent the track on which such trainoperates;-the invention more particularly con# templating mechanism actuated by. the wheels of a locomotive and'carsfor raising a weight which is utilized in operating any de-V sired device vor. mechanism. V

A further object of the invention is to pro-y vide a device of the character described with novel means for preventing damage when the weight has been elevated to a predetermined height and for thereafter insuring that the weight shall be again actuated by a moving train after it has fallen or whenit to drop from such a position.4 Another'object of my invention is to provide a novel mechanism for utilizing the wheels of a train for Vwinding upon a drum a weight-carrying cable, together'with means 'for automatically disconnecting the drum from the train-actuated member afterV the weight has been elevated to a predetermined height and for thereafter again `automatically connecting the drum and said member when the'weight has fallen to a vpredetermined eXtent.

These objects and other advantageous ends T attain as hereinafter. set forth, reterencey being Vhad to the accompanying drawings,in

which,

Figure 1 1s a side elevation, to some extent' diagrammatic, illustrating the detail construction of Vmy invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of portions of the mechanism shown in' Fig. 1'.

Tn the above drawings 1 represents one of the rails of a railroad and 2 acar or locomotive wheel operative thereon. Adjacent this rail a lever 3 is mounted upon a fulcrum yor pivot structure l and has one arm extended upwardly along the outer side `of the rail 1 in such a position pressed by a wheel The effective width or rolling over the same.

be varied as desired Specification of Letters Patent.

that it is automatically de'- wheel engaging por.

Patented sepe'14,119201 r f Application mea August 5, 1919. 'semina 315,564. y 'i f so that it will be depressed eitherbyl every' wheel passing` over the rail 1, or,-'by reason of its lateral extension as shown in 'Fig;1'3, will be held in a depressed position by one two other wheels on the sameucar truck.

In the former casethe'lever Swillbe oscili lated by 'each wheel that engages its arm 5.

andl in thelatter case it would be oscillated wheel until it hasv been engagedibythe'one or u v once by each set or series of wheels passing device into the position shown in Fig. 1.` In y the present case the lazy tongs '7 isextenfromv its 'lower posil sible ina substantially horizontal line and Vi its outer or free end is supported by aroller 8 operative upon a atfinclined structure 9,'

being connected through a link l() with a toothed rackll longitudinally guided at the f' bottom of a` tower or post structure 12.

4This same structure is providedlwith bear-f ings for a shaft 13, on which is loosely mounted a toothed wheel or kgear 14 meshing with or engaged by the teeth oftheA rack 11 and carrying a pawl or dog 15. The latter is designed to cooperate with a'. ratchet wheel 16 iXed to the spindle `17 on which the gear 141 is carried and on whichiis also liked a' pulley wheel 18. Y Through a belt or chain 19 this pulley wheel, which is mounted' at the bottom or lower. end of the post structure 12,

is operatively connectedto 'a second pulley wheel 2() at or adjacent the top ofsaid struc-1 ture where it is fixed to a shaft 'or spindle 21 mounted in suitable bearings -22.

This spindle, in addition to table in these bearings, is longitudinally being rota-- movableto a limited extent and is mounted A in alinement with a second shaft or spindle 23 carried in bearings 24, the parts being so arranged that when in one position'th'e shaft 21 may p 23 through. a suitable clutch 25. Y f

The shaft 21 is acted onby asprin'g26 in such. manner that itv tends to move away from the shaft v23 so as to release or open the clutch 25 and in order this spring may be overcome'and the shaft be operatively coupled to they shaft that the effect of' 21 moved toward and coupled to the' shaftV l y i 31 'as to draw the 23, I hinge or pivotea movable arm 28 to a supporting structure 29 and extend it across e the outer end v"of the shaft 21, connecting its free end through a cable 30 with acarriage 31 vertically guidedV on aV bar or'rod 32 adj acentV the bottom of the post structure 12.

This carriage is so placed as to be acted on by a cam in the form of a bent rod or bar 33 connected to and movable with the toothed rack 11, being so formed as toperniit the spring 26 to fraise theV carriage 31v and, through the shaft 21, release the members of the clutch 25 only when the lever varm 5 is not engaged by the wheels 2 andwhen the lazy tongsl 7 occupies a correspondingly collapsed or retracted position. When however the arm 5 is depressed and the lazy tongs 7 is extended, the'cam 33 so acts yon the carriage arm 28 toward the shaft 21 and force the latter toward the shaft .23 so as to cause closing Vof the clutch 25.

The camV bar 33 is so connected to the toothed rack 11 as'to be capable of move-l ment toward and from the same under the action of the carriage 31 incase this is not free to move on its guideway 32, and for this purpose Ie'xtend the ends of said `cam bar substantially perpendicular to said toothed rack through which they extend, and mount springs 35 between their heads and said rack so that no part of the device will be broken or unduly strained under the conditions above noted. Fixed to the shaft 23 is a winding drum 36l f or the reception of-a .cable 37, .which carries a weight' 38 of a mass suiicient to store power-for thel operation of such apparatus .as switches, signals er the like.A

Such weight would preferably though not necessarily be operative withinthe hollow of the post structure 12 and would have mounted adjacent the upper end of its path Y, of movement a device,` such as a lever 39,

whereby the clutch25 would be auto1natically opened or released, witha View to preventing further winding of Ythe cable 37 -on thedrum 36 by the action of the shaft `21whenvsaid weight has been raised to a predetermined height.VV

For this purpose one arm of the lever 39 is extended to operate upon a disl 40 fixed to the shaft 21, -and a second arm is acted on by a" spring 41 in opposition to the weight 38 so that when the latter occupies any` but its highest position, the lever 39 is drawn away from the disk l10 far enough to permit closure of the clutch"25. Y The'k mechanism to be operated by the falling of the weight 38 is actuated through a pulley 42 ixedrto the shaft 23 and it will be understood that such mechanism would preferably include any suitable form of governing device (not shown) whereby the rate of fall of the weight would be regulated as desired.

`Through the belt 19 the Under operating conditions the passage over the rail 1 of a wheel or set of wheels such as would be mo-unted on the truck of a car, :would cause depression of the arm 5 of the lever` 3 and an elevation of the freeend of said lever. The lazy tongs 7- would thereupon be extended and thelongitudinal movement ofthe rack-11 would cause rotation both of the'toothed wheel 141 and, through Y 16, of the pulley `18; pulley 2O and shaft 21 wouldV likewise be turned 1 and since shortly after the beginning of the outward the pawl 15 and ratchet movement of the rack, the cam bar 33 would draw down the carriage 31 upon its guide 32, said shaft 21 would be moved toward the shaft 23 to which it woud be "operatively connected by the clutch 25.

yAs a consequence this second shaft would be turned, the ,cable 37 would bev wound upon the drum 36 and the weight 38 would be raised to a certain height, where it would be held yby the governing mechanism connected to the shaft 23. As soon as the wheel or set of wheels disengage the arm 5 of the lever 3, the lazy tongs 7 andisaid lever re-V turn to their normal positions with the y clutch 25 open as shown in F ig. V1 where they remain until another'wheel or setoof wheels causesthe above described operations to be repeated, it being noted that the return movement ofthe toothed rack 11 Y causes the gear 14 to rotate'without turn- Y of the discons 1 ing the pulley 18 by reason necting action of the pawll As a complete train of greater or less length passes the above described apparatus, there are thus delivered to the latter a succession of impulses each resulting in a greater orv lessV rotation of the drum 36 and the intermittent raising of the weight 38 until finally with the lever 39, and against the action of the spring 41, so acts upon the disk 40 as to move the shaft 21 in its bearings sufficiently to disconnect or open the clutch 25. Thereafter the shaft 21 is rotated by the passage of the train over the'lever 3 without affecting the shaft 23,v although the longitudinal movement of the rack 12 causes movement'of the cam bar '33 relatively to the carriage 31. Since however this cannot cause longitudinal movement of the shaft 21 toward the shaft 23, the springs 35 yield to allow movement of Said cam bar away thisk comes into engagement from the rack when the rollers 121 of said carriage engage that portion of: said bar I C nearest the rack.A

lVhen by reason of the operation of the i said two shafts 21 and 23 Vand cause raising of the weight each time the lever V3' is ac# tuated by a passing wheel or set of wheels. Under normal conditions however, when the lever 3 occupies the position shown; the rollers'aa of-thecarriage 3l engage the inclined portion of the `cam bar 33 and allow the spring 26 to retain the shaft :2l in such position' that it is operatively disconnected from the shaft 23. The latter may thus be turned under the action of the weight 38 and caused to operate its'associated mechanism without being required to turn the shaft 2l with the pulleys 2O and 18.

From the above description it will be noted` that l have provided a relatively simple and inexpensive device whereby power may be conveniently' transmitted from a moving train and stored for` utilization in operating signals, small pumps or other' mechanism at points where it would otherwise be a diflicult land expensive matter to obtain power from any source. The apparatus itself is of such a nature as to be inexpensive to construct and maintain and is capable of operation for long periods of time with but little if any attention.

I claim:

l. rl`he combination of a member positioned adjacent a railroad track to be actuated by car wheels passing thereon; a power storing device; means for intermittently connecting said member and said device in response to movements of the member by a series of car wheels; and means foi` aut-omatically causing disconnectionv of said device from the member when the latter occupies a normal inoperative position.

2. The combination of a member mounted adjacent a railroad track in position to be actuated bycar wheels passing thereon; an element operatively connected to said member and reciprocated when the latter is actuated; a power storing device; with means for automatically connectingsaid device to said element while the latter is moving in one direction and automatically disconnecting it from said element when the latter moves in an opposite direction.

3. T he combination of a member mountedl adjacent a car track in position to be actuated by wheels passing thereon; two rotatably `mounted shafts; a clutch for connecting said shafts; means for turning one of the shafts on said member; and a device actuated by the member for causing automatic release of the clutch when said member occupies its normal inoperative position.

4. The combination of a member mounted adjacent a car track in position to be actuated by wheels passing thereon; two rotatably mounted shafts; a clutch for connecting said shafts; means for turning one of the shafts on said member; and a-cam caringthe operation of the clutch.

ried by the member for causing release of the clutch" when said member occupies its normal inoperative position.

k5. The combination of a member positioned to be voperated by. the wheels of a train; a 'device to be driven; a clutch one of whose elements, is connected to said drivendevice; means-including a movementmagnifying device connecting the other clutch element to lthe wheel operated member; and :in-automatic device for causing shaft connected to be operated by said ren ciprocating element; a Vdevice to be actuated; a clutch for connecting said shaft to said device; and automatic means operated by said wheel-actuated member for govern-k T he ycombination of a lever mounted to be actuated by the wheels of a train; a lazyV j tongs operated by said lever; a toothed rack connected tothe lazy tongs; a gear engaging said rack; a shaft operatively lconnected to said gear; a device to be operated; and means for connecting said device to said shaft when the rack member is moved in one direction.

8. The combination of a member mounted to be actuated by the wheels of a train; a reciprocable element; a movement magnifying device connected between said element and said member; a shaft; means for causing said reciprocable element to rotate the shaft only when said wheel actuated member is moved in one direction; a power storing device; a clutch forr connecting said device to the shaft; and means for causing closing of the clutch while said shaft is being turned by the'wheel actuated member.

9. The combination of a member mounted' to beactuated by the wheels of a train; a reciprocable element; a movement magnifying device connected betweensaid element and said member; a shaft; means for causrrnoMAs r. BARRETT. 

